Fact check: Kelly distorts tale in slamming congresswoman

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., talks to reporters, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, in Miami Gardens, Fla. Wilson is standing by her statement that President Donald Trump told Myeshia Johnson, the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson killed in an ambush in Niger, that her husband “knew what he signed up for.” In a Wednesday morning tweet, Trump said Wilson’s description of the call was “fabricated.” (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly stands next to the podium while speaking to the media during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s chief of staff made scathing comments about Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson, accusing her grandstanding at a building dedication in the memory of two fallen FBI agents.

But an AP Fact Check finds that John Kelly misrepresented what happened at that event. Kelly says Wilson bragged about securing money for the building. A video of her remarks in 2015 shows she did not make that claim at all. Instead, she talked about her efforts to name the building after the agents.

Kelly spoke about the episode Thursday when he challenged Wilson’s criticisms of Trump’s behavior on the phone with a war widow this week.

On Friday, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel released video of Wilson’s remarks in 2015, and the video rebuts with Kelly’s claims.